The invention relates to a method for monitoring an equipment operation procedure and to a self-service device monitored using this method. It is based on U.S. Pat. No. 5,594,806.
Self-service electronic equipment, in particular machines such as cash dispensers and self-service terminals, are increasingly subject to attacks by unauthorized users aiming to gain unauthorized access to the machine""s services. To this end, so-called xe2x80x9cfront structuresxe2x80x9d have become known, where, by way of example, a simulation of a card reader mouthpiece is placed in front of a card reader and illegally detains the card. In addition, there have been reports of attempts at covertly observing personal identification numbers, so-called PIN numbers, by fitting a key actuation sensor device over the PIN keypad.
A further problem can be seen in attempts to render equipment of the aforementioned type inoperable as a result of deliberate incorrect operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,594,806 relates to a system for identifying persons using the knuckle profile of the fist. The document discloses an arrangement comprising an electronic camera and a data processing unit which processes image information and stores image patterns, said arrangement containing a comparator which is used to compare an image information item supplied by the camera with a stored image pattern and, on the basis of the comparison result, produces a signal which is used to influence the further response of the equipment in which the system is used.
The person identification system is used to scan the knuckle profile of a subject""s fist in a recording procedure and to store the measured data which is characteristic only of this person. To this end, the subject needs to grasp a handle and to rotate it into the camera""s field of view. This ensures that the fist is forced into a reproducible posture. In a subsequent identification procedure, the handle needs to be grasped in the same way and rotated into the field of view, and the knuckle profile of the fist is then scanned again and the newly obtained measured data is compared with the stored measured data. In this context, the reliability of identification is greater the more exactly the two measured results correspond.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,073,950 discloses a similar system in which the measured data contains the length and a width profile of the subject""s fingers. To record these, the subject needs to place his hand on a plate which is illuminated from the back. The hand""s shadow contour is scanned using an electronic camera.
Since the placement of the fingers is not the same during the first recording operation and the subsequent, repeated recording operation, a direct comparison between the data would not be meaningful. For this reason, the data is subjected to a method of normalization both during the first recording operation and during the subsequent, repeated recording operation, said normalization method converting the data such that a virtual image with a normalized finger posture is produced, which is the basis for the comparison.
German patent specification DE 196 12 949 C1 has already proposed a virtual input unit which has a user interface which is similar to an input tablet and is formed by a table plate. A video projector projects an image of the key area of a keypad onto the table plate. An electronic camera records the hand, outstretched in a typical pointing position, of a user operating the input device and supplies the image data to a computer. The finger, pointing to a detail of the input device, and its position with respect to the user interface are recognized as such in a pattern recognition method.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,263 has also already disclosed the practice of detecting a hand which is using a pointer to point to an input field.
The known arrangements are well suited to increasing input keypads"" security against vandalism and secret monitoring, firstly because there are no moving parts such as key buttons, which could be obstructed. Secondly, a front structure on a planar projection surface would be immediately conspicuous. However, the known arrangements are not suitable for securing the entire equipment operation procedure f or an item of self-service equipment.
The object of the invention is to propose a method for monitoring an equipment operation procedure and also a self-service device monitored using this method.
An optical pattern recognition method is used to detect the hand posture which is characteristic of the respective equipment operation procedure alone or else together with an object to be handled when using equipment, and also its direction of movement, and to compare said hand posture with a prescribed pattern, and a signal influencing the further response of the equipment is produced on the basis of the comparison result.
This makes it possible to ascertain, even before an operating step, whether the hand posture typical of said operating step has been adopted. By way of example, the hand of a person about to insert an identification card or credit card into a card reader has a different posture than a hand which is about to grasp a bundle of bank notes supplied by a cash machine. In the first case, the hand will additionally be holding an identification card or credit card. An empty hand or a hand holding an object which has a different format than the identification card format is recognized as such. A signal representing a negative comparison result is then produced and can be used, for example, to place, or else just not remove, a block in the card reader""s card insertion opening.
A hand preparing to grasp a bundle of bank notes is expected to have a typical grasping posture. Furthermore, this hand will be empty. If anything else is detected, the cash withdrawal compartment can be closed in time or else just not opened, or a bundle of bank notes which has been presented can be retracted.
A hand approaching a deposit box will generally be holding an object which is to be deposited and will adopt a posture which allows the object to be inserted into the insertion opening. Security against unacceptable objects can be increased further by providing an envelope beforehand, into which the object to be deposited needs to be placed. Such an envelope can then easily be recognized again.
In a telephone box, a hand reaching f or the handset or holding it can likewise be recognized by its typical posture.
If the equipment operation procedure comprises at least two operating steps each having a characteristic hand posture, a subsequent operating step following one operating step is not enabled until the comparison result for the one operating step is positive, that is to say a signal representing a positive comparison result is output.
If the comparison result is negative, that is to say there is a signal representing a negative comparison result, an audible and/or visual operating tip is given and/or an error message signal is produced which triggers an alarm and/or turns on a camera which portrays the person causing the negative comparison result.
The degree of correspondence between the prescribed pattern and the detected pattern, which degree of correspondence is necessary for the output of a signal reporting a positive comparison result, can preferably be preselected. This allows the tolerance range of the pattern recognition method used to be adjusted to a sharper or less critical setting depending on the equipment operation procedure which is to be monitored.